The Historic Naval Ships Association (HNSA) mission includes educating the public on the rich naval maritime heritage of the member ships; the roles these ships have played in their countries' histories; and the importance of preserving such ships for future generations. In 2009, HNSA (through Bruce Ecker and Richard Pekelny) created a virtual reality tour of the Savannah in its present state. Click on NS Savannah Virtual Tour or in the side menu for an excellent tour through the ship.

The N/S Savannah Association, Inc. (Association), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization formed in 2009, has launched their own website. In partnership with the U.S. Maritime Administration’s N.S Savannah Project, the Association will actively participate in preserving and restoring this national historic landmark. Click on N/S Savannah Association to view their website.

The SAVANNAH Technical Staff conducted a private ceremony on December 3rd to recognize the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker Lenin, and the 30th anniversary of the deactivation of the West German nuclear-powered merchant ship Otto Hahn. A letter of fraternal greetings from the Director General of the Russian nuclear ship operator, Atomflot, was read during the ceremony. Click on Atomflot to read this most impressive greeting.

The bull gear is the largest movable (rotating) piece of the ship’s steam turbine drive train except for the propeller. It is mounted between the aft end of the turbines and the propeller shaft/thrust bearing and served as a reduction gear reducing the shaft speed to a nominal 108 RPM. This precision manufactured bull gear has a 13.5 foot diameter and a 34 inch face and weighs in at 66,000 pounds. At 108 RPM, the gear face on the bull gear was traveling at a speed of about 55 miles per hour.

The piece we obtained from the scrapper weighed about one half the entire bull gear (33,000 pounds) and includes a representative section of both the gear and the shaft keyway. We were obviously constrained from obtaining the entire piece by transportation considerations.

The bull gear was removed from the N/S SAVANNAH in the early 1990's and installed without any substantial modification in the AMERICAN EXPLORER where it sailed for several years. The EXPLORER was finally sent to the scrapper, Southern Recycling, in New Orleans. That is where we found it and thanks to Randy Boudreaux of Southern Recycling, were able to obtain this exciting piece of the ship.

We have some great clips from YouTube showing Mamie Eisenhower launching the SAVANNAH 50 years ago, a movie trailer on Tom Conner's documentary Once Upon a Nuclear Ship due out this fall, and a remote controlled model of the ship being tested out. Click on Related Website Links and enjoy.